Post: Music for working
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title: "Music for working"
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description: "In which I share a few thoughts on noise-blockers for work"
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slug: music-for-working
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date: 2019-10-26T19:53:12+01:00
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type: post
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tags:
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- Music
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- Concentration
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- Mental health
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---
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Today[^3] the office conversation turned to
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blocking out background noise.
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(No, the irony is not lost on me.)
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Like many people
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I work in a large, open-plan office,
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and I'm not alone amongst my colleagues
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in sometimes needing to find a way
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to boost concentration by blocking out distractions.
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Not everyone is like this,
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but I find music does the trick for me.
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I also find that different types of music
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are better for different types of work,
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and I use this to try and manage my energy better.
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There are more distractions than auditory noise,
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and at times I really struggle with visual noise.
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Rather than have this post turn into a rant
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about the evils of open-plan offices,
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I'll just mention that the scientific evidence
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doesn't paint them in a good light[^1],
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or at least suggests that the benefits are
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more limited in scope than is commonly thought[^2],
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and move on to what I actually wanted to share:
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good music for working to.
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There are a number of genres that I find useful for working.
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Generally, these have in common
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a consistent tempo,
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a lack of lyrics,
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and enough variation to prevent boredom without distracting.
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Familiarity helps my concentration too
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so I'll often listen to a restricted set of albums for a while,
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gradually moving on by dropping one out and bringing in another.
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In my case this includes:
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- **Traditional dance music**,
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generally from northern and western European traditions for me.
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This music has to be rhythmically consistent to allow social dancing,
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and while the melodies are typically simple repeated phrases,
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skilled musicians improvise around that to make something beautiful.
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I tend to go through phases of listening to particular traditions;
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I'm currently listening to a lot of French, Belgian and Scandinavian.
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- **Computer game soundtracks**,
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which are specifically designed to enhance gameplay without distracting,
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making them perfect for other activities
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requiring a similar level of concentration.
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- **Chiptunes and other music incorporating it**;
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partly overlapping with the previous category,
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chiptunes is music made by hacking the audio chips
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from (usually) old computers and games machines
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to become an instrument for new music.
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Because of the nature of the instrument,
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this will have millisecond-perfect rhythm
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and again makes for undistracting noise blocking
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with an extra helping of nostalgia!
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Purists would disagree with me,
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but I like artists that combine chiptunes
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with other instruments and effects
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to make something more complete-sounding.
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- **Retrowave/synthwave/outrun**,
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synth-driven music that's instantly familiar
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as the soundtrack to many 90s sci-fi and thriller movies.
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Atmospheric, almost dreamy,
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but rhythmic with a driving beat,
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it's another genre that fits into the
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"pleasing but not too surprising" category for me.
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So where to find this stuff?
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One of the best resources I've found is
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[Music for Programming](https://musicforprogramming.net/)
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which provides carefully curated playlists
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of mostly electronic music
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designed to energise without distracting.
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They're so well done that the tracks move seamlessly,
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one to the next,
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without ever getting boring.
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[Spotify](https://spotify.com) is an obvious option,
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and I do use it quite a lot.
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However, I've started trying to find ways to support artists more directly,
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and [Bandcamp](https://bandcamp.com) seems to be a good way of doing that.
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It's really easy to browse by genre,
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or discover artists similar to what you're currently hearing.
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You can listen for free
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as long as you don't mind occasional nags
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to buy the music you're hearing,
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but you can also buy tracks or albums.
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Music you've paid for is downloadable
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in several open, DRM-free formats for you to keep,
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and you know that a decent chunk of that cash
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is going directly to that artist.
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I also love noise generators;
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not exactly *music*,
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but a variety of pleasant background noises,
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some of which nicely obscure typical office noise.
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I particularly like [mynoise.net](https://mynoise.net/),
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which has a cornucopia of different natural and synthetic noises.
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Each generator comes with a range of sliders
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allowing you to tweak the composition and frequency range,
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and will even animate them randomly for you
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to create a gently shifting soundscape.
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A much simpler,
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but still great,
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option is [Noisli](https://www.noisli.com/)
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with it's nice clean interface.
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Both offer apps for iOS and Android.
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For bonus points,
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you can always try combining one or more of the above.
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Adding in a noise generator
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allows me to listen to quieter music
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while still getting good environmental isolation
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when I need concentration.
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Another favourite combo is
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to open both the cafe and rainfall generators from myNoise,
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made easier by the ability to pop out a mini-player
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then open up a second generator.
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I must be missing stuff though.
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What other musical genres should I try?
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What background sounds are nice to work to?
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[^1]: See e.g.: Lee, So Young, and Jay L. Brand. ‘Effects of Control over Office Workspace on Perceptions of the Work Environment and Work Outcomes’. Journal of Environmental Psychology 25, no. 3 (1 September 2005): 323–33. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.08.001>.
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[^2]: [Open plan offices can actually work under certain conditions](https://theconversation.com/open-plan-offices-can-actually-work-under-certain-conditions-89452), The Conversation
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[^3]: Well, you know. The other day. Whatever.
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